The hands of the UN are stained with blood due to its failure to stop the atrocities of the Assad regime in Syria, Prime Minister David Cameron told the General Assembly today.

He cited a recent Save the Children report documenting the torture and murder of children by regime forces in Syria, saying: "The blood of these young children is a terrible stain on the reputation of this United Nations.

"And in particular, a stain on those who have failed to stand up to these atrocities and in some cases aided and abetted Assad's reign of terror."

Egypt opposes foreign military intervention to stop the civil war in Syria and prefers an inclusive, negotiated settlement, Egypt's new Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, said today.

"Egypt is committed to pursue the sincere efforts it has been exerting to put an end to the catastrophe in Syria, within an Arab, regional and international framework," Mursi said in his first speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

"One that preserves the unity of this brotherly state, involves all factions of the Syrian people without racial, religious or sectarian discrimination and spares Syria the dangers of foreign military intervention that we oppose."